Sony surprised more than a few people in Las Vegas this week with the unveiling of its new Vision-S concept car on the opening night of the consumer electronics show. The concept is meant to showcase Sony’s technology in the transportation and mobility segment, incorporating imaging and sensing hardware, onboard AI software, telecommunications, cloud computing, and in-car entertainment.
The Vision-S is an attractively shaped mid-sized electric sloped-back sedan which looks to have cribbed a bit from Tesla, a bit from Byton, and maybe even a bit from Faraday Future. Aesthetically, it fits right in with the tech-future vision of the automobile.
Sony says it has “a total of 33 sensors, including CMOS image sensors and ToF sensors are embedded within the vehicle, in order to detect and recognise people and objects inside and outside the car, and provide highly advanced driving support.”
Sony expands on the idea of in-car entertainment by offering “Sony’s “360 Reality Audio” which allegedly makes the car like a high-end listening room with speakers mounted inside the seats. And those front seats are greeted with a “panoramic screen on which rich and diverse content can be enjoyed through an intuitive user interface.” If autonomous tech ever does catch on, it would be nice to be able to be entertained while scooting around in your rolling pod.
You can watch the full Sony CES presentation below. The car rolls out at about the half-hour mark.
LIVE NOW: Watch the Sony CES 2020 Press Conference (LIVE at 5 p.m. (PST) #SonyCES #CES2020 https://t.co/qRqk2XuoUU
— Sony Electronics at CES 2020 (@SonyElectronics) January 7, 2020
Sony partnered with Magna Steyr and Bosch to make this car possible, and the car is discussed as being “a platform” from which other future models can be built, including SUVs. Does this mean Sony is actually going to build this car and others like it? It seems the company is pretty serious about it, and the Vision-S is proof.
We don’t know much about the car, what kind of power it makes, or when it might be available, but you can be sure we’ll let you know when we do.